Sun Treader
Member
Good morning TractorByNet,
Long story short, I find myself with a small farm in Western Virginia. Historically just about everything has been done here; vegetables, goats, dairy, fruit, cattle, poultry, and more; very small scale but its not been actively worked for some time. Currently we have about five acres of hay taken care of by a neighbor.
The place came with a mid-90s Case IH 495: about 50hp and 40 at the PTO. It came with a loader, rear blade, hay spear, and brush hog. I had never been on a tractor before. I read the manual and jumped on. Deferred maintenance meant I've been through all the filters and fluids, replaced the loader valve, all the hoses, one of the hard lines, replaced the seat, polished up the dash so I can see the gauges, put new rear tires on it, fixed the shifting linkage, replaced the PTO shield, and about a dozen other things. Its a Cat II hitch but was always run with undersized Cat I implements and no bushings or adapters so things are pretty beat up back there.
I've added a WoodMaxx WM-8600 backhoe and have nothing but good things to say about it. Just added an Everything Attachments 78" box blade.
As being completely new to tractors, I'm blown away by the capabilities of everything it can do. This is the first machine I've had that can run into a tree and *win.* That can literally plow into the ground and keep going. Just blows me away. The only other vehicle I've owned that weighed in at 8,000 lbs (filled tires, loader, backhoe) was a sailboat and I lived on that!
I was trying to tame some of our deep mud in the woods the other day. I've got some surge rock in there and just wanted to smooth it out to help drainage. The tractor was 12" deep in the mud, the steering was like a tiller rather than wheels. I was pulling forward in low first and got paying attention to where I was going. I felt a bit of a lug and looked back and that box blade was completely buried, thick heavy clay mug spilling over the top, it was buried like a set anchor and I was still moving forward like it was pulling a garden cart. Amazing.
Right now we're doing property maintenance, logging, earth moving, and light construction so this beast is a good match. In the next two years we'll have much of that complete and I'll be looking to make a transition to new orchards, being more capable moving snow, and generally lighter work around new trees and turf. I'm looking now at cabbed tractors to handle spraying, possibly mowing, snow blowing, pallet forking, and assorted lighter duty tasks. I may keep the Case to run the backhoe, for woods work, and to run the big loader. My general MO though is to sell something while its still working well rather than wait for it to die and lose all its value.
My local dealer situation is a Kioti dealer I don't want to deal with, a Deere dealer I'm on the fence about, and two Kubota dealers within about 45 minutes in either direction. There is an LS dealer and a couple of others around but they're small operations, and if I'm buying new I want a dealer I'm confident can service and get parts for the long term; I get that from Deere and Kubota. I like the combination Kubota has of a Japanese made tractor and North American made implements, that seems like the ideal mix to me.
I've been concentrating on the B2650/B3350; and the L3260 and L5460. I need to go check them out in person. The B would allow me to sell my riding mower and take over those jobs; the L would be too big for regular mowing but could take over much of what the Case does.
I've read hundreds of threads already, looked at all the videos I can find (thanks WaxMan!) and generally done what research I can without heading into the dealer.
I had a question about how often machines are updated. Its infrequent of course. The GL60s and the cabbed Bs are only a couple of years old at most. How long until there is another major update? Five years?
I'm from the deep south and have been up here for three years, one year at our 'farm.' Snow is new and terrifying to me. We've been stuck a bunch and have generally made every mistake there is. I'm looking at snow blowers, I have about a mile of road, trails, and driveway to clear; about half of that is gravel and about half is turf. We don't get much snow, seems like two or three big falls (more than a few inches) a year, last year wasn't terrible but the year before we had 18" in one dump that stayed around for months. Looking at front mount blowers; the B is reasonably priced, but the L with the subframe seems way expensive to me; I have no need for a broom, the flail mower is neat but I wouldn't get enough use out of it, so this subframe would really only be used for the blower and maybe a blade. It looks like a neat system, but wow its expensive. I'd really rather not have to handle snow in reverse because of our steep, narrow, and winding road, and a straight drop off into the creek I'd have to blow near.
Buying a B would replace my little riding mower, we have about six or so acres of 'yard' to mow regularly, but it wouldn't do the heavy stuff. It would be an orchard/yard machine with the Case for the heavy stuff. The L would replace the Case for most things and as we get the really tough earth work and woods work out of the way we'd sell the Case and have the L to take over its duties as well as the orchard work and leave the mower to mowing.
I'm leaning toward the L to get the Case out of here before there is some really expensive failure and because its a really nasty machine to operate. I think the L would be okay around the young trees and would do everything except for mowing. I'd be looking at getting the backhoe subframe for it and attaching brackets to the 3-point WoodMaxx backhoe. The L5460 and L6060 have Cat II hitches that I'd be comfortable running the back from, the smaller Ls have Cat I hitches and I wouldn't run a 3-point backhoe this size from them.
Alright, so that's my situation, I don't think there are any bad choices here. I wanted to introduce myself, say Thanks! to everyone, like I said I've read hundreds of threads and have learned a huge amount already, this is the best tractor resource of any kind. If anyone has any feel for when there may be a cycle update for the Bs in particular I'd like to know what you think.
That Case is probably going to keep going forever, just needing a cycle of repairs and replacements right now; but its just not pleasant to run and for loader work running the gears is involved. Right hand on the throttle and loader valves, right foot on the brakes, left hand on the gears, left foot on the clutch; no idea how I'm steering and keeping an eye about as well. If there isn't any wind I'm sitting in a cloud from the exhaust stack. Plus, it was built in England so its got actual Lucas electrics in it; the ignition key proudly declares 'Lucas' on it; consequently, the electrics live up to the Lucas reputation!
Dave
Long story short, I find myself with a small farm in Western Virginia. Historically just about everything has been done here; vegetables, goats, dairy, fruit, cattle, poultry, and more; very small scale but its not been actively worked for some time. Currently we have about five acres of hay taken care of by a neighbor.
The place came with a mid-90s Case IH 495: about 50hp and 40 at the PTO. It came with a loader, rear blade, hay spear, and brush hog. I had never been on a tractor before. I read the manual and jumped on. Deferred maintenance meant I've been through all the filters and fluids, replaced the loader valve, all the hoses, one of the hard lines, replaced the seat, polished up the dash so I can see the gauges, put new rear tires on it, fixed the shifting linkage, replaced the PTO shield, and about a dozen other things. Its a Cat II hitch but was always run with undersized Cat I implements and no bushings or adapters so things are pretty beat up back there.
I've added a WoodMaxx WM-8600 backhoe and have nothing but good things to say about it. Just added an Everything Attachments 78" box blade.
As being completely new to tractors, I'm blown away by the capabilities of everything it can do. This is the first machine I've had that can run into a tree and *win.* That can literally plow into the ground and keep going. Just blows me away. The only other vehicle I've owned that weighed in at 8,000 lbs (filled tires, loader, backhoe) was a sailboat and I lived on that!
I was trying to tame some of our deep mud in the woods the other day. I've got some surge rock in there and just wanted to smooth it out to help drainage. The tractor was 12" deep in the mud, the steering was like a tiller rather than wheels. I was pulling forward in low first and got paying attention to where I was going. I felt a bit of a lug and looked back and that box blade was completely buried, thick heavy clay mug spilling over the top, it was buried like a set anchor and I was still moving forward like it was pulling a garden cart. Amazing.
Right now we're doing property maintenance, logging, earth moving, and light construction so this beast is a good match. In the next two years we'll have much of that complete and I'll be looking to make a transition to new orchards, being more capable moving snow, and generally lighter work around new trees and turf. I'm looking now at cabbed tractors to handle spraying, possibly mowing, snow blowing, pallet forking, and assorted lighter duty tasks. I may keep the Case to run the backhoe, for woods work, and to run the big loader. My general MO though is to sell something while its still working well rather than wait for it to die and lose all its value.
My local dealer situation is a Kioti dealer I don't want to deal with, a Deere dealer I'm on the fence about, and two Kubota dealers within about 45 minutes in either direction. There is an LS dealer and a couple of others around but they're small operations, and if I'm buying new I want a dealer I'm confident can service and get parts for the long term; I get that from Deere and Kubota. I like the combination Kubota has of a Japanese made tractor and North American made implements, that seems like the ideal mix to me.
I've been concentrating on the B2650/B3350; and the L3260 and L5460. I need to go check them out in person. The B would allow me to sell my riding mower and take over those jobs; the L would be too big for regular mowing but could take over much of what the Case does.
I've read hundreds of threads already, looked at all the videos I can find (thanks WaxMan!) and generally done what research I can without heading into the dealer.
I had a question about how often machines are updated. Its infrequent of course. The GL60s and the cabbed Bs are only a couple of years old at most. How long until there is another major update? Five years?
I'm from the deep south and have been up here for three years, one year at our 'farm.' Snow is new and terrifying to me. We've been stuck a bunch and have generally made every mistake there is. I'm looking at snow blowers, I have about a mile of road, trails, and driveway to clear; about half of that is gravel and about half is turf. We don't get much snow, seems like two or three big falls (more than a few inches) a year, last year wasn't terrible but the year before we had 18" in one dump that stayed around for months. Looking at front mount blowers; the B is reasonably priced, but the L with the subframe seems way expensive to me; I have no need for a broom, the flail mower is neat but I wouldn't get enough use out of it, so this subframe would really only be used for the blower and maybe a blade. It looks like a neat system, but wow its expensive. I'd really rather not have to handle snow in reverse because of our steep, narrow, and winding road, and a straight drop off into the creek I'd have to blow near.
Buying a B would replace my little riding mower, we have about six or so acres of 'yard' to mow regularly, but it wouldn't do the heavy stuff. It would be an orchard/yard machine with the Case for the heavy stuff. The L would replace the Case for most things and as we get the really tough earth work and woods work out of the way we'd sell the Case and have the L to take over its duties as well as the orchard work and leave the mower to mowing.
I'm leaning toward the L to get the Case out of here before there is some really expensive failure and because its a really nasty machine to operate. I think the L would be okay around the young trees and would do everything except for mowing. I'd be looking at getting the backhoe subframe for it and attaching brackets to the 3-point WoodMaxx backhoe. The L5460 and L6060 have Cat II hitches that I'd be comfortable running the back from, the smaller Ls have Cat I hitches and I wouldn't run a 3-point backhoe this size from them.
Alright, so that's my situation, I don't think there are any bad choices here. I wanted to introduce myself, say Thanks! to everyone, like I said I've read hundreds of threads and have learned a huge amount already, this is the best tractor resource of any kind. If anyone has any feel for when there may be a cycle update for the Bs in particular I'd like to know what you think.
That Case is probably going to keep going forever, just needing a cycle of repairs and replacements right now; but its just not pleasant to run and for loader work running the gears is involved. Right hand on the throttle and loader valves, right foot on the brakes, left hand on the gears, left foot on the clutch; no idea how I'm steering and keeping an eye about as well. If there isn't any wind I'm sitting in a cloud from the exhaust stack. Plus, it was built in England so its got actual Lucas electrics in it; the ignition key proudly declares 'Lucas' on it; consequently, the electrics live up to the Lucas reputation!
Dave
